Paul Brush (born 22 February 1958) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and coach who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

. He is best known for his time with West Ham United, for whom he played from 1976 until 1985.

Playing career

Brush came through

's academy to make his first-team debut as a 19-year-old, on 20 August 1977 in a 3–1 defeat against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

in the First Division. He was an unused substitute for West Ham in the 1980 FA Cup Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, when the Hammers became the last team (as of 2023) from outside the top flight to win the trophy. He was able to appear at Wembley just a few months later in the starting eleven for West Ham in the Charity Shield against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. In all, he made 151 League appearances for the east London club and scored one goal (against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

on 1 January 1985), before leaving the club in September 1985 for

. He spent three seasons with Palace, followed by another three with

, then moved into

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with clubs including

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

and Heybridge Swifts.

Coaching career

Brush joined

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

as youth coach in 1994, was appointed manager in October 2001, and was sacked after two years in charge with the club second bottom of the league.

Steve Tilson Stephen Brian Tilson (born 27 July 1966) is an English football manager and former player, he is currently the manager of Heybridge Swifts. Tilson is best known for his time in charge of Southend United, where he was in charge for seven year ...

, appointed manager of

in late 2003, brought in Brush as his assistant, and the pair led the club to two successive promotions, from

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. After not recording a league win in 2010, the club slipped into the League One relegation zone and he was sacked as assistant manager on 8 March. Chairman Ron Martin stated he wanted a positive approach to the on-field activities. The next day former manager David Webb replaced Brush until the end of the season. On 15 October 2010, he renewed his partnership with Tilson when he was appointed assistant manager at Lincoln City upon Tilson's appointment as manager. In October 2011 both Tilson and Brush were sacked by Lincoln City. In 2012 Brush became an academy development coach at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. From 2021 he has been a self-employed coach and scout and is a scout for

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

Honours

West Ham United *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brush, Paul 1958 births Living people Footballers from Plaistow, Newham English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks West Ham United F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Enfield F.C. players Heybridge Swifts F.C. players English Football League players English Football League managers English football managers Leyton Orient F.C. managers Lincoln City F.C. non-playing staff Southend United F.C. non-playing staff Association football coaches Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff Leyton Orient F.C. non-playing staff